Objectives : Correlate between the level of anxiety and the practice of oral hygiene during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in dental students of Cairo University
Subjects and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among dental students in Faculty of Dentistry Cairo University, online questionnaire was sent to their e-mails.
Results: We received 750 responses; the response rate was 35 %. Mild anxiety was the level with the highest percentage (40.9%) while severe anxiety was found mostly in fifth year students (14.9%). The fourth and fifth year students reported the lowest percentages (7.8% and 13.7%, respectively). Despite there being a significant weak inverse relation between anxiety level and self - assessment of oral health during the period of COVID -19 pandemic lockdown, it was found that fifth year students (students with sever anxiety) reported the self -rating of cleanliness of mouth and oral health to be good.
Conclusion: Our study highlighted the invers relation between stress level and the practice of oral hygiene during COVID- 19 pandemic lockdown, also the importance of raising the awareness of oral hygiene practice as it would result in maintaining good oral health despite the exposure to high level of stress in the pandemic situation.